Juneteenth

US holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people

For other uses, see Juneteenth (disambiguation).

Juneteenth Flag Black-American Heritage Flag

Juneteenth

Juneteenth festival in Milwaukee, 2019

Also called|

* Juneteenth National Independence Day
* Jubilee Day[1]
* Emancipation Day (TX)[2][3]
* Freedom Day
* Black Independence Day[4]

Observed by| United States
Type| Federal
Significance| Emancipation of enslaved people in the United States
Celebrations| Festivals, partying, parades, church services
Observances| African-American history, culture, and progress
Date| June 19[a]
Frequency| Annually
First time|

* June 19, 1866 (celebration)
* June 19, 2021 (federal holiday)[b]

Started by| Early celebrations were held by Christian churches and the Freedmen's Bureau
Related to|

* Emancipation Day
* Honor America Days

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Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the end of slavery. Its name is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth", as it is celebrated on the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when in the wake of the American Civil War, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.[7][8] Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture.

Early celebrations date back to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. Participants in the Great Migration brought these celebrations to the rest of the country. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, these celebrations were eclipsed by the nonviolent determination to achieve civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African-American freedom and African-American arts. Beginning with Texas by proclamation in 1938, and by legislation in 1979, every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has formally recognized the holiday in some way. Juneteenth is also celebrated by the Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles who escaped from slavery in 1852 and settled in Coahuila, Mexico.

Celebratory traditions often include public readings of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and the reading of works by noted African-American writers, such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou. Juneteenth celebrations may also include rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, parties, historical reenactments, and Miss Juneteenth contests. The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. Juneteenth became the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983.[9]

## Celebrations and traditions[edit]

What Is Juneteenth?, a 2020 video by the House Democratic Caucus Traditional African dance and music performed for Juneteenth, 2019

The holiday is considered the "longest-running African-American holiday"[10] and has been called "America's second Independence Day."[11][12] Juneteenth falls on June 19 and has often been celebrated on the third Saturday in June. Historian Mitch Kachun considers that celebrations of the end of slavery have three goals: "to celebrate, to educate, and to agitate".[13]

Early celebrations consisted of baseball, fishing, and rodeos. African Americans were often prohibited from using public facilities for their celebrations, so they were often held at churches or near water. Celebrations were characterized by elaborate large meals and people wearing their best clothing.[10] It was common for formerly enslaved people and their descendants to make a pilgrimage to Galveston.[14] As early festivals received news coverage, Janice Hume and Noah Arceneaux consider that they "served to assimilate African-American memories within the dominant 'American story'".[15]

Observance today is primarily in local celebrations.[16] In many places, Juneteenth has become a multicultural holiday.[17] Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation which promised freedom, singing traditional songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and reading of works by noted African-American writers, such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou.[16] Celebrations include picnics, rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, blues festivals, and Miss Juneteenth contests.[10][14][18][19][20] Red food and drinks are traditional during the celebrations, including red velvet cake and strawberry soda, with red meant to represent resilience and joy.[19][14][21]

Juneteenth celebrations often include lectures and exhibitions on African-American culture.[13] The modern holiday places much emphasis on teaching about African-American heritage. Karen M. Thomas wrote in Emerge that "community leaders have latched on to [Juneteenth] to help instill a sense of heritage and pride in black youth". Celebrations are commonly accompanied by voter registration efforts, the performing of plays, and retelling stories.[22] The holiday is also a celebration of soul food and other food with African-American influences. In Tourism Review International, Anne Donovan and Karen DeBres write that "Barbecue is the centerpiece of most Juneteenth celebrations".[23] Major news networks now host specials and marathons on national outlets featuring prominent Black voices.[24]

Many other countries celebrate Emancipation Day on August 1, and a few on other dates. The people of Nacimiento in Mexico hold a festival and reunion, known as el Día de los Negros on June 19.[25][26][27] Since 2021, the United Nations has designated August 31 as the International Day for People of African Descent.[citation needed]

## History[edit]

Abolition of slavery in the United States in the Civil War period (the blues and darker greens in the above map occurred before the civil war period):

Exclusion of slavery by Congressional action, 1861

Abolition of slavery by Congressional action, 1862

Emancipation Proclamation as originally issued, 1 Jan 1863

Subsequent operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863

Abolition of slavery by state action during the Civil War

Operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1864

Operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865

Thirteenth Amendment to the US constitution, 18 Dec 1865

Territory incorporated into the US after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment

Areas covered by the Emancipation Proclamation are in red. Slave-holding areas not covered are in blue.

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced that the Emancipation Proclamation would go into effect on January 1, 1863, promising freedom to enslaved people in all of the rebellious parts of Southern states of the Confederacy including Texas.[28][29][c][d] Enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied upon the advance of Union troops. Texas, as the most remote state of the former Confederacy, had seen an expansion of slavery because the presence of Union troops was low as the American Civil War ended; thus, the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation had been slow and inconsistent there prior to Granger's order.[8]

### Early history[edit]

#### The Civil War and celebrations of emancipation[edit]

Further information: Slave states and free states

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), emancipation came at different times in different parts of the Southern United States. Large celebrations of emancipation, often called Jubilees (recalling the biblical Jubilee, in which enslaved people were freed), took place on September 22, January 1, July 4, August 1, April 6, and November 1, among other dates. When emancipation finally came to Texas, on June 19, 1865, as the southern rebellion collapsed, celebration was widespread.[32] While that date did not actually mark the unequivocal end of slavery, even in Texas, June 19 came to be a day of shared commemoration across the United States - created, preserved, and spread by ordinary African Americans - of slavery's wartime demise.[8]

#### End of slavery in Texas[edit]

Further information: Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the midst of the Civil War on September 22, 1862, declaring that if the rebels did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union, all enslaved people in the Confederacy would be freed on the first day of the following year.[33] On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all enslaved people in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands were freed.[33][c]

More isolated geographically, planters and other slaveholders had migrated into Texas from eastern states to escape the fighting, and many brought enslaved people with them, increasing by the thousands the enslaved population in the state at the end of the Civil War.[8] Although most lived in rural areas, more than 1,000 resided in Galveston or Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns.[34] By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.[8][7]

Despite the surrender of Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not surrender until June 2.[8] On the morning of June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston[35] to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its enslaved population and oversee Reconstruction, nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers.[35][36] The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all enslaved people were free:

> The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.[37]

Longstanding urban legend places a historic reading of General Order No. 3 at Ashton Villa; however, no historical evidence supports such claims.[38] There is no evidence that Granger or any of his troops proclaimed the Ordinance by reading it aloud. All indications are that copies of the Ordinance were posted in public places, including the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church.[39]

On June 21, 2014, the Galveston Historical Foundation and Texas Historical Commission erected a Juneteenth plaque where the Osterman Building once stood signifying the location of Major General Granger's Union Headquarters believed to be where he issued his general orders.[40]

Although this event commemorates the end of slavery, emancipation for the remaining enslaved in two Union border states, Delaware and Kentucky, would not come until December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified.[41][c][e] The freedom of formerly enslaved people in Texas was given state law status in a series of Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874.[43]

* Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 formally informing Texas residents that slavery had ended.

* General Order No. 3, June 19, 1865

#### Early Juneteenth celebrations[edit]

Formerly enslaved people in Galveston rejoiced after General Order No. 3.[44] One year later, on June 19, 1866, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became annual commemorations of "Jubilee Day".[37] Early celebrations were used as political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed African Americans.[45] Other independence observances occurred on January 1 or 4.[46]

In some cities, Black people were barred from using public parks because of state-sponsored segregation of facilities. Across parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land to hold their celebrations.[8][37] The day was first celebrated in Austin in 1867 under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, and it had been listed on a "calendar of public events" by 1872.[41] That year, Black leaders in Texas raised $1,000 for the purchase of 10 acres (4 ha) of land, today known as Houston's Emancipation Park, to celebrate Juneteenth.[47]

The observation was soon drawing thousands of attendees across Texas. In Limestone County, an estimated 30,000 Black people celebrated at Booker T. Washington Park, established in 1898 for Juneteenth celebrations.[41][10] The Black community began using the word Juneteenth for Jubilee Day early in the 1890s.[7] The Current Issue, a Texas periodical, used the word as early as 1909,[48] and that year a book on San Antonio remarked, with condescension, on "June 'teenth'".[49]

#### Decline of celebrations during the Jim Crow era[edit]

In the early 20th century, economic and political forces led to a decline in Juneteenth celebrations. From 1890 to 1908, Texas and all former Confederate states passed new constitutions or amendments that effectively disenfranchised Black people, excluding them from the political process. White-dominated state legislatures passed Jim Crow laws imposing second-class status.[50] Gladys L. Knight writes the decline in celebration was in part because "upwardly mobile blacks ... were ashamed of their slave past and aspired to assimilate into mainstream culture. Younger generations of blacks, becoming further removed from slavery were occupied with school ... and other pursuits." Others who migrated to the Northern United States could not take time off or simply dropped the celebration.[10]

The Great Depression forced many Black people off farms and into the cities to find work, where they had difficulty taking the day off to celebrate. From 1936 to 1951, the Texas State Fair served as a destination for celebrating the holiday, contributing to its revival. In 1936, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people joined the holiday's celebration in Dallas. In 1938, Governor of Texas James Allred issued a proclamation stating in part:[51]

> Whereas, the Negroes in the State of Texas observe June 19 as the official day for the celebration of Emancipation from slavery; and

> Whereas, June 19, 1865, was the date when General [Gordon] Granger, who had command of the Military District of Texas, issued a proclamation notifying the Negroes of Texas that they were free; and

> Whereas, since that time, Texas Negroes have observed this day with suitable holiday ceremony, except during such years when the day comes on a Sunday; when the Governor of the State is asked to proclaim the following day as the holiday for State observance by Negroes; and

> Whereas, June 19, 1938, this year falls on Sunday; NOW, THEREFORE, I, JAMES V. ALLRED, Governor of the State of Texas, do set aside and proclaim the day of June 20, 1938, as the date for observance of EMANCIPATION DAY

> in Texas, and do urge all members of the Negro race in Texas to observe the day in a manner appropriate to its importance to them.

Seventy thousand people attended a "Juneteenth Jamboree" in 1951.[51] From 1940 through 1970, in the second wave of the Great Migration, more than five million Black people left Texas, Louisiana and other parts of the South for the North and the West Coast. As historian Isabel Wilkerson writes, "The people from Texas took Juneteenth Day to Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and other places they went."[52] In 1945, Juneteenth was introduced in San Francisco by a migrant from Texas, Wesley Johnson.[53]

During the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement focused the attention of African Americans on expanding freedom and integrating. As a result, observations of the holiday declined again, though it was still celebrated in Texas.[45][46]

* Band performing in Texas for Emancipation Day, 1900

* Celebration of Emancipation Day in 1900, Texas

* Emancipation Day celebration in Richmond, Virginia, 1905

### Revival of celebrations[edit]

#### 1960s–1980s[edit]

Flyer for a 1980 Juneteenth celebration at the Seattle Center

Juneteenth soon saw a revival as Black people began tying their struggle to that of ending slavery. In Atlanta, some campaigners for equality wore Juneteenth buttons. During the 1968 Poor People's Campaign to Washington, DC, called by Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference made June 19 the "Solidarity Day of the Poor People’s Campaign".[41][53] In the subsequent revival, large celebrations in Minneapolis and Milwaukee emerged, [14] as well as across the Eastern United States.[54]

In 1974, Houston began holding large-scale celebrations again,[7] and Fort Worth, Texas, followed the next year. Around 30,000 people attended festivities at Sycamore Park in Fort Worth the following year.[45] The 1978 Milwaukee celebration was described as drawing over 100,000 attendees.[54] In 1979, the Texas Legislature made the occasion a state holiday.[55] In the late 1980s, there were major celebrations of Juneteenth in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.[7]

#### Prayer breakfast and commemorative celebrations[edit]

Al Edwards statue

In 1979, Democratic State Representative Al Edwards of Houston successfully sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a paid Texas state holiday. The same year, he hosted the inaugural Al Edwards prayer breakfast and commemorative celebration on the grounds of the 1859 home, Ashton Villa. As one of the few existing buildings from the Civil War era and popular in local myth and legend as the location of Major General Granger's order, Edwards's annual celebration includes a local historian dressed as the Union general[56] reading General Order No. 3 from the second-story balcony of the home. The Emancipation Proclamation is also read and speeches are made.[57][58] Representative Al Edwards died of natural causes April 29, 2020, at the age of 83,[59] but the annual prayer breakfast and commemorative celebration continued at Ashton Villa, with the late legislator's son Jason Edwards speaking in his father's place.[60][61]

#### Official statewide recognitions[edit]

In the late 1970s, when the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a "holiday of significance ... particularly to the blacks of Texas,"[46] it became the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday.[62] The bill passed through the Texas Legislature in 1979 and was officially made a state holiday on January 1, 1980. Before 2000, three more U.S. states officially observed the day, and over the next two decades it was recognized as an official observance in all states, except South Dakota, until becoming a federal holiday.[4]

#### Juneteenth in pop culture and the mass media[edit]

Since the 1980s and 1990s, the holiday has been more widely celebrated among African-American communities and has seen increasing mainstream attention in the US.[10][63] In 1991, there was an exhibition by the Anacostia Community Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution) called "Juneteenth '91, Freedom Revisited."[14] In 1994, a group of community leaders gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans to work for greater national celebration of Juneteenth.[10][63] Expatriates have celebrated it in cities abroad, such as Paris.[18] Some US military bases in other countries sponsor celebrations, in addition to those of private groups.[18][64] In 1999, Ralph Ellison's novel Juneteenth was published, increasing recognition of the holiday.[65] By 2006, at least 200 cities celebrated the day.[14]

In 1997, activist Ben Haith created the Juneteenth flag, which was further refined by illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf. In 2000, the flag was first hoisted at the Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston by Haith. The star at the center represents Texas and the extension of freedom for all African Americans throughout the whole nation. The burst around the star represents a nova and the red curve represents a horizon, standing for a new era for African Americans. The red, white, and blue colors represent the American flag, which shows that African Americans and their enslaved ancestors are Americans, and the national belief in liberty and justice for all citizens.[66][67]

The holiday gained mainstream awareness outside African-American communities through depictions in media, such as episodes of TV series Atlanta (2016)[68] and Black-ish (2017),[69] the latter of which featured musical numbers about the holiday by Aloe Blacc, The Roots,[70] and Fonzworth Bentley.[71][72] In 2018, Apple added Juneteenth to its calendars in iOS under official U.S. holidays.[73] Some private companies have adopted Juneteenth as a paid day off for employees, while others have officially marked the day in other ways, such as a moment of silence.[74][75]

In 2020, several American corporations and educational institutions, including Twitter, the National Football League, Nike, began treating Juneteenth as a company holiday, providing a paid day off to their workers,[76] and Google Calendar added Juneteenth to its U.S. Holidays calendar.[77] Also in 2020, a number of major universities formally recognized Juneteenth,[78][79] either as a "day of reflection" or as a university holiday with paid time off for faculty and staff.[79]

The 2020 mother-daughter film on the holiday's pageant culture, Miss Juneteenth, celebrates African-American women who are "determined to stand on their own," while a resourceful mother is "getting past a sexist tendency in her community to keep women in their place."[80]

#### Becoming a federal holiday[edit]

President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, June 17, 2021

In 1996, the first federal legislation to recognize "Juneteenth Independence Day" was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.J. Res. 195, sponsored by Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI). In 1997, Congress recognized the day through Senate Joint Resolution 11 and House Joint Resolution 56\. In 2013, the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution 175, acknowledging Lula Briggs Galloway (late president of the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage), who "successfully worked to bring national recognition to Juneteenth Independence Day", and the continued leadership of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.[81]

In the 2000s and 2010s, activists continued a long process to push Congress towards official recognition of Juneteenth.[82] Organizations such as the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation sought a Congressional designation of Juneteenth as a national day of observance.[8] By 2016, 45 states were recognizing the occasion.[55] Activist Opal Lee, often referred to as the "grandmother of Juneteenth",[83] campaigned for decades to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, leading walks in many states to promote the idea.[84] In 2016–17 at the age of 89, she led a symbolic walk from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington D.C. to advocate for the federal holiday.[55][85] When it was officially made a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, she was standing beside President Joe Biden as he signed the bill.[84]

Juneteenth became one of five date-specific federal holidays along with New Year's Day (January 1), Independence Day (July 4), Veterans Day (November 11), and Christmas Day (December 25). Juneteenth is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared a holiday in 1986.[86][87][88] Juneteenth also falls within the statutory Honor America Days period, which lasts for 21 days from Flag Day (June 14) to Independence Day (July 4).

## Legal observance[edit]

### State and local[edit]

Adoption of Juneteenth as a commemoration or holiday in the US by states, in the years before the federal holiday in 2021

Recognized before 2000

Recognized between 2000 and 2009

Recognized between 2010 and 2021

As of 2023, 24 of these states and the District of Columbia have also made it a paid holiday for state or district workers. Federal government employees in all states are covered by the federal holiday.

Texas was the first state to recognize the date by enacted law, in 1980. By 2002, eight states officially recognized Juneteenth[89] and four years later 15 states recognized the holiday.[46] By 2008, just over half of the states recognized Juneteenth in some way.[90] By 2019, 47 states and the District of Columbia recognized Juneteenth,[91] although as of 2020 only Texas had adopted the holiday as a paid holiday for state employees.[92]

In June 2019, Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf recognized Juneteenth as a holiday in the state.[93] In the yearlong aftermath of the murder of George Floyd that occurred on May 25, 2020, nine states designated Juneteenth a paid holiday,[94] including New York, Washington, and Virginia.[95] In 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued a proclamation that the day would be marked as "Juneteenth Independence Day". This followed the filing of bills by both the House and Senate to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Baker did not comment on these bills specifically but promised to grant the observance of Juneteenth greater importance.[96] On June 16, 2021, Illinois adopted a law changing its ceremonial holiday to a paid state holiday.[97]

Some cities and counties have also recognized Juneteenth through proclamation. In 2020, Juneteenth was formally recognized by New York City (as an annual official city holiday and public school holiday, starting in 2021).[98][99] Cook County, Illinois, adopted an ordinance to make Juneteenth a paid county holiday.[100] The City and County of Honolulu recognizes it as an "annual day of honor and reflection",[101] and Portland, Oregon (as a day of remembrance and action and a paid holiday for city employees).[102]

North Dakota approved recognition of Juneteenth as a state-recognized annual holiday on April 13, 2021,[103] with Hawaii becoming the 49th state to recognize the holiday on June 16, 2021.[f][104][105] On June 16, 2020, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem proclaimed that the following June 19, 2020 was to be Juneteenth Day for that year only, spurning calls for it to be recognized annually, rather than just for 2020.[106] In February 2022, South Dakota became the last state to recognize Juneteenth as an annual state holiday or observance.[107] Its law provided for following the federal law even before it was official.[108] On May 2, 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill changing the state's ceremonial observance to a state holiday and it is now the 11th state holiday in Colorado.[109]

As of May 30, 2023, 24 states and the District of Columbia have made Juneteenth a paid holiday for state employees, with the remainder maintaining a ceremonial observance (New Mexico's personnel board declared it a paid worker holiday, although it is not a statutory holiday in New Mexico):[110]

States and Juneteenth paid holiday  State or insular area  | First official observance  | Paid state holiday adopted  | Notes

|
|
|

California | 2003  | 2022  |
Colorado | 2004  | 2022  |
Connecticut | 2003  | 2023  |
Delaware | 2000  | 2021[111] |
District of Columbia | 2003  | 2021  |
Georgia | 2011  | 2022  |
Idaho | 2001  | 2021  |
Illinois | 2003  | 2021  |
Louisiana | 2003  | 2021[112] |
Maine | 2011  | 2021[113] |
Maryland | 2014  | 2022  |
Massachusetts | 2007  | 2022  |
Minnesota | 1996  | 2023[114]
Missouri | 2003  | 2022  |
Nebraska | 2009  | 2022  |
Nevada | 2011  | 2022  |
New Jersey | 2004  | 2020[115] | Observed on the third Friday in June
New Mexico | 2006  | 2022  |
New York | 2004  | 2020[116] |
Ohio | 2006  | 2021  |
Oregon | 2001  | 2021  |
South Dakota | 2021  | 2022  |
Tennessee | 2007  | 2023  |
Texas | 1939  | 1980  |
Utah | 2016  | 2022  |
Virginia | 2007  | 2020[117] |
Washington | 2007  | 2021  |

### National[edit]

Juneteenth National Independence Day Act

Long title| An Act to amend title 5, United States Code, to designate Juneteenth National Independence Day as a legal public holiday.
Enacted by| the 117th United States Congress
Effective| June 17, 2021
Citations
Public law| Pub. L. 117–17 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at Large| 135 Stat. 287
Codification
Titles amended| Title 5—Government Organization and Employees
U.S.C. sections amended| 5 U.S.C. § 6103
Legislative history

* Introduced in the Senate as S. 475 by Ed Markey (D–MA) on February 25, 2021
* Committee consideration by Senate Judiciary
* Passed the Senate on June 15, 2021 (unanimous consent)
* Passed the House on June 16, 2021 (415–14)
* Signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021

Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States. For decades, activists and congress members (led by many African Americans) proposed legislation, advocated for, and built support for state and national observances. During his campaign for president in June 2020, Joe Biden publicly celebrated the holiday.[118] President Donald Trump, during his campaign for reelection, added making the day a national holiday part of his "Platinum Plan for Black America".[119] Spurred on by the advocates and the Congressional Black Caucus, on June 15, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act,[120] establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It passed through the House of Representatives by a 415–14 vote on June 16.[121][122]

President Joe Biden signed the bill (Pub. L. 117–17 (text) (PDF))[123][124] on June 17, 2021, making Juneteenth the eleventh American federal holiday and the first to obtain legal observance as a federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designated in 1983.[125][87][88] According to the bill, federal government employees will now get to take the day off every year on June 19, or should the date fall on a Saturday or Sunday, they will get the Friday or Monday closest to the Saturday or Sunday on which the date falls.[126]

## See also[edit]

* Civil rights movement portal
* United States portal
* Holidays portal

* History of African Americans in Texas
* Independence Day (United States)
* List of African-American holidays
* Negro Election Day
* Public holidays in the United States

## Explanatory notes[edit]

1. ^ The holiday name is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth.[5][6]
2. ^ First observed on Federal calendars on Friday, June 18, 2021, then Monday, June 20, 2022, per Federal law (5 U.S.C. § 6103), establishing that holidays falling on a Saturday or Sunday are observed on the Friday prior (if the holiday falls on Saturday) or the Monday following (if the holiday falls on Sunday)."Federal Holidays". U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
3. ^ a b c Enslaved people in Union hands had not been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation due to the limited scope of presidential "war powers". See Emancipation Proclamation#Coverage for more information.
4. ^ Although the Emancipation Proclamation declared an end to slavery in the Confederate States, it did not end slavery in the places that were then deemed loyal to the Union (the border states, nor in certain counties or parishes of Louisiana and Virginia). Freedom there generally came through other methods before the end of the war. But as a result, for a short while after the fall of the Confederacy, slavery remained legal in Delaware and Kentucky.[30][31] Those enslaved people were not freed until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished chattel slavery nationwide, on December 6, 1865.
5. ^ Unlike in Texas, where slavery grew during the war, in Kentucky, due largely to Union military measures and escapes to Union lines, the number of those enslaved fell by over 70%.[42]
6. ^ In June of 2020, Hawaii's first African-American Miss Hawaii USA, Samantha Neyland, founded Hawaii for Juneteenth, a coalition and grassroots movement. Hawaii for Juneteenth lobbied the Hawaii State Legislature into successfully passing SB939, introduced by Senator Glenn Wakai and signed into law by Governor David Ige on June 16, 2021.

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125. ^ "Juneteenth: US to add federal holiday marking end of slavery". BBC News. June 17, 2021. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
126. ^ Tapp, Tom; Dominic, Patten (June 17, 2021). "President Biden to Sign Bill Tomorrow Making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.

## General and cited references[edit]

* Barr, Alwyn (1996). Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528–1995. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806128788.
* Blanck, Emily. "Galveston on San Francisco Bay: Juneteenth in the Fillmore District, 1945–2016." Western Historical Quarterly 50.2 (2019): 85–112. Galveston on San Francisco Bay: Juneteenth in the Fillmore District, 1945–2016
* Cromartie, J. Vern. "Freedom Came at Different Times: A Comparative Analysis of Emancipation Day and Juneteenth Celebrations." NAAAS Conference Proceedings. National Association of African American Studies, (2014) online.
* Donovan, Anne, and Karen De Bres. "Foods of freedom: Juneteenth as a culinary tourist attraction." Tourism Review International 9.4 (2006): 379–389. link
* Gordon-Reed, Annette (2021). On Juneteenth, New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-1631498831. OCLC 1196176524
* Guzzio, Tracie Church (1999). "Juneteenth". In Samuels, Wilford D. (ed.). Encyclopedia of African-American Literature. Facts on File.[ISBN missing]
* Hume, Noah; Arceneaux, Janice (2008). "Public Memory, Cultural Legacy, and Press Coverage of the Juneteenth Revival". Journalism History. 34 (3): 155–162. doi:10.1080/00947679.2008.12062768. S2CID 142605823.
* Jaynes, Gerald David (2005). "Juneteenth". Encyclopedia of African American Society. Vol. 1\. Sage Publications. pp. 481–482. ISBN 9781452265414.
* Knight, Gladys L. (2011). "Juneteenth". Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. Greenwood. pp. 798–801. OCLC 694734649.[ISBN missing]
* Mustakeem, Sowandé (2007). "Juneteenth". In Rodriguez, Junius (ed.). Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World. Routledge.[ISBN missing]
* Taylor, Charles A. (2002). Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom. Open Hand Pub Llc. ISBN 978-0940880689.
* Turner, E. H. "Juneteenth: The Evolution of an Emancipation Celebration." European Contributions to American Studies. 65 (2006): 69–81.
* Wiggins Jr, William H. "They Closed the Town Up, Man! Reflections on the Civic and Political Dimensions of Juneteenth." in Celebration: Studies in Festivity and Ritual, ed. Victor Turner (1982): 284–295.
* Wilson, Charles R. (2006). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 4: Myth, Manners, and Memory. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807830291. JSTOR 10.5149/9781469616704_wilson.
* Wynn, Linda T. (2009). "Juneteenth". In Carney Smith, Jessica (ed.). Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience. Credo Reference.[ISBN missing]

## Further reading[edit]

* Cotham, Edward T. Jr. (2021). Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration. State House Press. ISBN 978-1649670007.

## External links[edit]

Juneteenth at Wikipedia's sister projects

* Definitions from Wiktionary
* Media from Commons
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Texts from Wikisource
* Data from Wikidata

* Juneteenth at Curlie
* Jennifer Schuessler, "Liberation as Death Sentence", The New York Times, June 11, 2012
* Juneteenth: Fact Sheet Congressional Research Service (updated July 1, 2022)
* Juneteenth World Wide Celebration, website for 150th anniversary celebration
* Juneteenth Historical Marker, Juneteenth historical marker at 2201 Strand, Galveston, TX 77550
* 2022 Holidays, United States Office of Personal Management
* Celebrating Freedom: Juneteenth and Emancipation Day Commemorations, Richmond, Va., Social Welfare History Project, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries

* v
* t
* e

Juneteenth

Key people|

* Ben Haith
* Gordon Granger
* Opal Lee

Key locations|

* Oregon
* Texas

Symbols|

* Juneteenth flag
* Pan-African flag

Governmental recognition|

* General Order No. 3
* Juneteenth National Independence Day Act

In popular culture|

* Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition
* Juneteenth (Atlanta)
* Juneteenth (novel)
* Miss Juneteenth

Related topics|

* Abolitionism in the United States
* Emancipation Proclamation
* Emancipation Day
* End of slavery in the United States of America

Civil rights movement portal

* v
* t
* e

Holidays, observances, and celebrations in the United States

January|

* New Year's Day (federal)
* Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. (federal)

* Birthday of Eugenio María de Hostos (PR)
* Confederate Heroes Day (TX)
* Eve of Three Kings' Day (PR, religious)
* Feast of Epiphany / Feast of Theophany (religious)
* Fred Korematsu Day (AZ, CA, FL, HI, VA)
* Idaho Human Rights Day (ID)
* Inauguration Day (federal quadrennial)
* Kansas Day (KS)
* Makar Sankranti / Pongal (religious)
* Robert E. Lee Day (FL)
* Stephen Foster Memorial Day (36)
* The Eighth (LA)
* Three Kings' Day (PR, VI, religious)
* World Religion Day (religious)

January–February|

* Super Bowl Sunday

* Chinese New Year / Lunar New Year (NY, cultural, religious)
* Vasant Panchami (religious)

February
American Heart Month
Black History Month|

* Washington's Birthday (federal)
* Valentine's Day

* Birthday of Luis Muñoz Marín (PR)
* Candlemas (religious)
* Charles Darwin Day / Darwin Day (CA, DE)
* Day of Remembrance (CA, OR, WA, cultural)
* Georgia Day (GA)
* Groundhog Day
* Imbolc (religious)
* Lincoln's Birthday (CA, CT, IL, IN, MO, NY, WV)
* National Girls and Women in Sports Day
* National Freedom Day (36)
* Nirvana Day (religious)
* Presentation of Our Lord to the Temple (religious)
* Promised Reformer Day (religious)
* Ronald Reagan Day (CA)
* Rosa Parks Day (CA, MO)
* Saviours' Day (religious)
* Susan B. Anthony Day (CA, FL, NY, WI, WV, proposed federal)
* Tu B’shvat (religious)

February–March|

* Mardi Gras

* Ash Wednesday (PR, religious)
* Carnival (PR, VI, religious)
* Clean Monday (religious)
* Courir de Mardi Gras (religious)
* Intercalary Days (religious)
* Mahashivaratri (religious)
* Purim (religious)
* Shrove Tuesday (religious)
* Super Tuesday

March
Irish-American Heritage Month
Colon Cancer Awareness Month
Women's History Month|

* Saint Patrick's Day (religious)
* Spring break (week)

* Annunciation of the Virgin Mary / Annunciation of the Theotokos (religious)
* Casimir Pulaski Day (IL)
* Cesar Chavez Day (CA, CO, TX, proposed federal)
* Emancipation Day in Puerto Rico (PR, cultural)
* Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, MA)
* Harriet Tubman Day (NY)
* Hola Mohalla (religious)
* Holi (NY, religious)
* L. Ron Hubbard’s Birthday (religious)
* Lailat al-Mi'raj (religious)
* Liberation and Freedom Day (Charlottesville, VA, cultural)
* Mardi Gras (AL (in two counties), LA)
* Maryland Day (MD)
* National Poison Prevention Week (week)
* Nowruz (cultural, religious)
* Ostara (religious)
* Pi Day
* Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Day (HI)
* Promised Messiah Day (religious)
* Saint Joseph's Day (religious)
* Seward's Day (AK)
* Texas Independence Day (TX)
* Town Meeting Day (VT)
* Transfer Day (VI)
* Trans Day of Visibility (cultural)

March–April|

* Easter (religious)

* Good Friday (CT, NC, PR, NJ, VI, religious)
* Hanuman Jayanti (religious)
* Holy Thursday (PR, VI, religious)
* Holy Week (PR, religious, week)
* Lazarus Saturday (religious)
* Mahavir Janma Kalyanak (religious)
* Mesha Sankranti / Hindu New Year (religious)
* Palm Sunday (PR, religious)
* Passover (religious, week)
* Easter Monday / Bright Monday (VI, religious)
* Ramnavami (religious)
* Chandramana Uugadi / Souramana Uugadi (religious)

April
Arab American Heritage Month
Confederate History Month|

* 420
* April Fools' Day
* Arbor Day
* Birthday of José de Diego (PR)
* Confederate Memorial Day (AL, MS)
* Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (week)
* Earth Day
* Emancipation Day (cultural)
* Thomas Jefferson's Birthday (AL)
* Lag B’Omer (religious)
* Last Friday of Great Lent (religious)
* Pascua Florida (FL)
* Patriots' Day (MA, ME)
* Ridván (religious)
* San Jacinto Day (TX)
* Siblings Day
* Walpurgis Night (religious)
* Yom Ha'atzmaut (cultural, religious)

May
Asian American and
Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Jewish American Heritage Month
Military Appreciation Month

* Memorial Day (federal)
* Mother's Day (36)
* Cinco de Mayo

* Ascension of Baháʼu'lláh (religious)
* Ascension of Our Lord (religious)
* Caliphate Day (religious)
* Declaration of the Bab (religious)
* Harvey Milk Day (CA)
* International Workers' Day / May Day (CA, unofficial, proposed state)
* Law Day (36)
* Loyalty Day (36)
* Malcolm X Day (CA, IL, proposed federal)
* Military Spouse Day
* National Day of Prayer (36)
* National Day of Reason
* National Defense Transportation Day (36)
* National Maritime Day (36)
* Peace Officers Memorial Day (36)
* Pentecost (religious)
* Shavuot (religious)
* Truman Day (MO)
* Vesak / Buddha's Birthday (religious)

June
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Pride Month|

* Juneteenth (federal, cultural)
* Father's Day (36)

* Bunker Hill Day (Suffolk County, MA)
* Carolina Day (SC)
* Don Young Day (AK)
* Fast of the Holy Apostles (religious)
* Flag Day (36, proposed federal)
* Helen Keller Day (PA)
* Honor America Days (3 weeks)
* Jefferson Davis Day (AL, FL)
* Kamehameha Day (HI)
* Litha (religious)
* Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib (religious)
* Odunde Festival (Philadelphia, PA, cultural)
* Senior Week (week)
* Saint John's Day (PR, religious)
* West Virginia Day (WV)

July|

* Independence Day (federal)

* Asalha Puja Day (religious)
* Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera (PR)
* Birthday of Dr. José Celso Barbosa (PR)
* Emancipation Day in the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI, cultural)
* Guru Purnima (religious)
* Khordad Sal (religious)
* Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (HI, unofficial, cultural)
* Martyrdom of the Báb (religious)
* Parents' Day (36)
* Pioneer Day (UT)
* Puerto Rico Constitution Day (PR)

July–August|

* Summer vacation

* Tisha B'Av (religious)

August|

* American Family Day (AZ)
* Barack Obama Day in Illinois (IL)
* Bennington Battle Day (VT)
* Dormition of the Theotokos (religious)
* Eid-e-Ghadeer (religious)
* Fast in Honor of the Holy Mother of Lord Jesus (religious)
* Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (religious)
* Hawaii Admission Day / Statehood Day (HI)
* Krishna Janmashtami (religious)
* Lammas (religious)
* Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (TX)
* Naga Panchami (religious)
* National Aviation Day (36)
* Paryushana (religious)
* Raksha Bandhan (religious)
* Transfiguration of the Lord (religious)
* Victory Day (RI)
* Women's Equality Day (36)

September
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month|

* Labor Day (federal)

* Brazilian Day (NY, cultural)
* California Admission Day (CA)
* Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day (36)
* Constitution Day (36)
* Constitution Week
* Defenders Day (MD)
* Elevation of the Holy Cross (religious)
* Feast of San Gennaro (NY, cultural, religious)
* Ganesh Chaturthi (religious)
* Gold Star Mother's Day (36)
* His Holiness Sakya Trizin’s Birthday (religious)
* Mabon (religious)
* National Grandparents Day (36)
* National Payroll Week (week)
* Nativity of Mary / Nativity of the Theotokos (religious)
* Native American Day (proposed federal)
* Patriot Day (36)

September–October
Hispanic Heritage Month|

* Chehlum Imam Hussain (religious)
* Oktoberfest
* Pitri Paksha (religious)
* Rosh Hashanah / Feast of Trumpets (TX, NY, religious)
* Shemini Atzeret (religious)
* Simchat Torah (religious)
* Vijaya Dashami (religious)
* Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement (TX, NY, religious)

October
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Disability Employment Awareness Month
Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month
Filipino American History Month
LGBT History Month|

* Columbus Day (federal)
* Halloween

* Alaska Day (AK)
* Child Health Day (36)
* General Pulaski Memorial Day
* German-American Day
* Indigenous Peoples' Day
* International Day of Non-Violence
* Leif Erikson Day (36)
* Missouri Day (MO)
* Nanomonestotse (cultural)
* National School Lunch Week (week)
* Native American Day in South Dakota (SD)
* Nevada Day (NV)
* Spirit Day (cultural)
* Sweetest Day
* Sukkot / Feast of Tabernacles (religious, week)
* Virgin Islands–Puerto Rico Friendship Day (PR, VI)
* White Cane Safety Day (36)

October–November|

* Birth of the Báb (religious)
* Birth of Baháʼu'lláh (religious)
* Day of the Dead (VI)
* Diwali (NY, religious)
* Mawlid al-Nabi (religious)

November
Native American Indian Heritage Month|

* Veterans Day (federal)
* Thanksgiving (federal)

* Ascension of ‘Abdu’l Baha (religious)
* All Saints' Day (religious)
* Beginning of the Nativity Fast (religious)
* Beltane / Samhain (religious)
* Barack Obama Day in Alabama (Perry County, AL)
* D. Hamilton Jackson Day (VI)
* Day after Thanksgiving (24)
* Day of the Covenant (religious)
* Discovery of Puerto Rico Day (PR)
* Election Day (CA, DE, HI, KY, MT, NJ, NY, OH, PR, VA, WV, proposed federal)
* Family Day (NV)
* Guru Nanak Gurpurab (religious)
* Hanukkah (religious)
* Lā Kūʻokoʻa (HI, unofficial, cultural)
* Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur (religious)
* Native American Heritage Day (MD, WA, cultural)
* Presentation of the Theotokos to the Temple (religious)
* Trans Day of Remembrance (cultural)
* Unthanksgiving Day (cultural)

December|

* Christmas (religious, federal)
* New Year's Eve

* Advent Sunday (religious)
* Alabama Day (AL)
* Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib (religious)
* Bodhi Day (religious)
* Chalica (religious)
* Christmas Eve (KY, NC, SC, PR, VI)
* Day after Christmas (KY, NC, SC, TX, VI)
* Festivus
* HumanLight
* Hanukkah (religious, week)
* Immaculate Conception (religious)
* Indiana Day (IN)
* Kwanzaa (cultural, week)
* Milad Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (religious)
* National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (36)
* Nativity of Jesus (religious)
* Old Year's Night (VI)
* Pan American Aviation Day (36)
* Pancha Ganapati (religious, week)
* Rosa Parks Day (OH, OR)
* Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (religious)
* Wright Brothers Day (36)
* Yule (religious)
* Zartosht No-Diso (religious)

Varies (year round)|

* Eid al-Adha (NY, religious)
* Eid al-Fitr (NY, religious)
* Islamic New Year (religious)
* Yawm al-Arafa (religious)
* Hajj (religious)
* Laylat al-Qadr (religious)
* Navaratri (religious, four times a year)
* Obon (religious)
* Onam (religious)
* Ramadan (religious, month)
* Ghost Festival (religious)
* Yawm Aashura (religious)

Legend:

(federal) = federal holidays, (abbreviation) = state/territorial holidays, (religious) = religious holidays, (cultural) = holiday related to a specific racial/ethnic group or sexual minority, (week) = week-long holidays, (month) = month-long holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies

See also: Lists of holidays, Hallmark holidays, Public holidays in the United States, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.

* v
* t
* e

Federal holidays in the United States

Current|

* New Year's Day
* Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
* Washington's Birthday
* Memorial Day
* Juneteenth
* Independence Day
* Labor Day
* Columbus Day
* Veterans Day
* Thanksgiving Day
* Christmas Day

Proposed|

* VE Day (1945)
* Victory Day (1950)
* Flag Day (1950)
* Election Day/Democracy Day (1993, 2005, 2014)
* Malcolm X Day (1993–1994)
* Cesar Chavez Day (2008)
* Susan B. Anthony Day (2011)
* Native American Day (2013)
* Rosa Parks Day (2021)

Related|

* Uniform Monday Holiday Act

* v
* t
* e

Texas in the American Civil War

Origins|

* History of slavery in Texas

1861|

* Ordinance of Secession

1862|

* Marshall Conferences
* Nueces Massacre
* Battle of Corpus Christi
* First Battle of Sabine Pass
* Battle of Galveston Harbor (1862)
* Great Hanging at Gainesville

1863|

* Battle of Galveston
* Second Battle of Sabine Pass
* Battle of Brownsville
* Battle of Mustang Island
* Battle of Fort Esperanza

1864|

* Battle of Laredo

1865|

* Battle of Dove Creek
* Battle of Palmito Ranch

Units|

* Confederate
* Union

Aftermath|

* Juneteenth
* Texas v. White
* Andrew Hamilton

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

History of slavery in the United States

States|

* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* Florida
* Georgia
* Hawaii
* Idaho
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New Mexico
* New York
* North Carolina
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* Oklahoma
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* South Carolina
* South Dakota
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin
* Wyoming

Federal district|

District of Columbia

Territories|

* Puerto Rico
* U.S. Virgin Islands

Topics|

| History|

* Slavery among Native Americans
* Slavery in New Spain
* Slavery in New France
* Slavery in the colonial history of the United States
* Indentured servitude in the Americas
* Slavery in the United States
* Slave trade in the United States
* Slave markets and slave jails in the United States
* Kidnapping into slavery in the United States
* Slave states and free states
* Slave labor on United States military installations 1799–1863
* Slavery at American colleges and universities
* Glossary
* Bibliography

|

Cultural and social history|

* American proslavery movement
* Slavery as a positive good in the United States
* Treatment
* Health
* Mandatory illiteracy
* Education during the slave period
* Slave quarters
* Domestic slave trade
* List of American slave traders
* Runaway slave ad
* Slave catcher
* Abolitionism
* Underground Railroad
* Freedmen's towns
* Black Canadians
* List of abolitionists
* African American founding fathers
* Plantations
* Field slaves
* Gang system
* Task system
* Planter class
* List of plantations
* Native American slave owners
* Black slave owners
* American Colonization Society

Law and politics|

* Slavery and the United States Constitution
* American slave court cases
* Freedom suits
* Fugitive Slave Clause
* Three-fifths Compromise
* Slave and free states
* History of slavery by U.S. state
* Fugitive slaves
* Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
* Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (1808)
* Gag rule (1836–1840)
* Nullifiers
* Fire-Eaters
* Movement to reopen the transatlantic slave trade
* Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
* Partus sequitur ventrem
* Dred Scott v. Sandford
* Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution
* Presidents and slavery
* George Washington and slavery
* Thomas Jefferson and slavery
* James Madison and slavery
* John Quincy Adams and abolitionism
* John Tyler and slavery
* Zachary Taylor and slavery
* Abraham Lincoln and slavery
* Andrew Johnson and slavery
* Vice presidents
* Members of Congress
* Supreme Court Justices

Marriage,
sexual slavery
and procreation|

* Sexual slavery
* Female slavery
* Sexual relations and rape
* Slave breeding
* Marriage of enslaved people
* Plaçage
* Children of the plantation
* Shadow family

Civil War and after|

* Origins of the American Civil War
* Slavery during the American Civil War
* End of slavery in the United States
* Compensated emancipation
* Contraband
* Colored Troops
* Emancipation Proclamation
* Juneteenth
* Reconstruction era
* Radical Republicans
* Freedmen's Bureau
* Civil rights movement (1865–1896)
* Family reunification ads after emancipation
* Freedmen's town
* list

* v
* t
* e

American Civil War

Origins

* Origins

* Timeline leading to the War
* Bleeding Kansas
* Border states
* Compromise of 1850
* John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
* Kansas-Nebraska Act
* Lincoln–Douglas debates
* Missouri Compromise
* Nullification crisis
* Origins of the American Civil War
* Panic of 1857
* Popular sovereignty
* Secession
* South Carolina Declaration of Secession
* States' rights
* President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers

|

Slavery|

* African Americans
* Cornerstone Speech
* Crittenden Compromise
* Dred Scott v. Sandford
* Emancipation Proclamation
* Fire-Eaters
* Fugitive slave laws
* Plantations in the American South
* Positive good
* Slave Power
* Slavery in the United States
* Treatment of slaves in the United States
* Uncle Tom's Cabin

Abolitionism|

* Abolitionism in the United States
* Susan B. Anthony
* James G. Birney
* John Brown
* Frederick Douglass
* William Lloyd Garrison
* Lane Debates on Slavery
* Elijah Parish Lovejoy
* J. Sella Martin
* Lysander Spooner
* George Luther Stearns
* Thaddeus Stevens
* Charles Sumner
* Caning
* Harriet Tubman
* Underground Railroad

* Combatants
* Theaters
* Campaigns
* Battles
* States

| Combatants|

| Union|

* Army
* Navy
* Marine Corps
* Revenue Cutter Service

|

Confederacy|

* Army
* Navy
* Marine Corps

Theaters|

* Eastern
* Western
* Lower Seaboard
* Trans-Mississippi
* Pacific Coast
* Union naval blockade

Major campaigns|

* Anaconda Plan
* Blockade runners
* New Mexico
* Jackson's Valley
* Peninsula
* Northern Virginia
* Maryland
* Stones River
* Vicksburg
* Tullahoma
* Gettysburg
* Morgan's Raid
* Bristoe
* Knoxville
* Red River
* Overland
* Atlanta
* Valley 1864
* Bermuda Hundred
* Richmond-Petersburg
* Franklin–Nashville
* Price's Missouri Expedition
* Sherman's March
* Carolinas
* Mobile
* Appomattox

Major battles|

* Fort Sumter
* 1st Bull Run
* Wilson's Creek
* Fort Donelson
* Pea Ridge
* Hampton Roads
* Shiloh
* New Orleans
* Corinth
* Seven Pines
* Seven Days
* 2nd Bull Run
* Antietam
* Perryville
* Fredericksburg
* Stones River
* Chancellorsville
* Gettysburg
* Vicksburg
* Chickamauga
* Chattanooga
* Wilderness
* Fort Pillow
* Spotsylvania
* Cold Harbor
* Atlanta
* Crater
* Mobile Bay
* Franklin
* Nashville
* Five Forks

Involvement|

| States and
territories|

* Alabama
* Arkansas
* Arizona
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Dakota Territory
* District of Columbia
* Delaware
* Florida
* Georgia
* Hawaii
* Idaho
* Illinois
* Indian Territory
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New Mexico
* New York
* North Carolina
* Ohio
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* South Carolina
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin

|

Cities|

* Atlanta
* Charleston
* Chattanooga
* New Orleans
* Richmond
* Washington, D.C.
* Winchester

Leaders

| Confederate|

| Military|

* R. H. Anderson
* Beauregard
* Bragg
* Buchanan
* Cooper
* Early
* Ewell
* Forrest
* Gorgas
* Hill
* Hood
* Jackson
* A. S. Johnston
* J. E. Johnston
* Lee
* Longstreet
* Morgan
* Mosby
* Polk
* Price
* Semmes
* E. K. Smith
* Stuart
* Taylor
* Wheeler

|

Civilian|

* Benjamin
* Bocock
* Breckinridge
* Davis
* Hunter
* Mallory
* Memminger
* Seddon
* Stephens

Union|

| Military|

* Anderson
* Buell
* Burnside
* Butler
* Du Pont
* Farragut
* Foote
* Frémont
* Grant
* Halleck
* Hooker
* Hunt
* McClellan
* McDowell
* Meade
* Meigs
* Ord
* Pope
* D. D. Porter
* Rosecrans
* Scott
* Sheridan
* Sherman
* Thomas

|

Civilian|

* Adams
* Chase
* Ericsson
* Hamlin
* Lincoln
* Pinkerton
* Seward
* Stanton
* Stevens
* Wade
* Welles

Aftermath

| Constitution|

* Reconstruction Amendments
* 13th Amendment
* 14th Amendment
* 15th Amendment

|

Reconstruction|

* Alabama Claims
* Brooks–Baxter War
* Carpetbaggers
* Colfax riot of 1873
* Compromise of 1877
* Confederate refugees
* Confederados
* Eufaula riot of 1874
* Freedmen's Bureau
* Freedman's Savings Bank
* Homestead Acts
* Southern Homestead Act of 1866
* Timber Culture Act of 1873
* Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
* trial
* efforts
* timeline
* first inquiry
* second inquiry
* impeachment managers investigation
* Kirk–Holden war
* Knights of the White Camelia
* Ku Klux Klan
* Ethnic violence
* Memphis riots of 1866
* Meridian riot of 1871
* New Orleans riot of 1866
* Pulaski (Tennessee) riot of 1867
* South Carolina riots of 1876
* Reconstruction acts
* Habeas Corpus Act of 1867
* Enforcement Act of 1870
* Enforcement Act of February 1871
* Enforcement Act of April 1871
* Reconstruction era
* Reconstruction military districts
* Reconstruction Treaties
* Indian Council at Fort Smith
* Red Shirts
* Redeemers
* Scalawags
* South Carolina riots of 1876
* Southern Claims Commission
* White League

Post-
Reconstruction|

* Commemoration
* Centennial
* Civil War Discovery Trail
* Civil War Roundtables
* Civil War Trails Program
* Civil War Trust
* Confederate History Month
* Confederate Memorial Day
* Decoration Day
* Historical reenactment
* Robert E. Lee Day
* Confederate Memorial Hall
* Disenfranchisement
* Black Codes
* Jim Crow
* Historiographic issues
* Lost Cause mythology
* Modern display of the Confederate flag
* Red Shirts
* Sons of Confederate Veterans
* Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
* Southern Historical Society
* United Confederate Veterans
* United Daughters of the Confederacy
* Children of the Confederacy
* Wilmington insurrection of 1898

Monuments
and memorials|

| Union|

* List
* Grand Army of the Republic
* memorials to Lincoln

|

Confederate|

* List
* artworks in Capitol
* memorials to Davis
* memorials to Lee
* Removal

Cemeteries|

* Ladies' Memorial Associations
* U.S. national cemeteries

Veterans|

* 1913 Gettysburg reunion
* 1938 Gettysburg reunion
* Confederate Memorial Hall
* Confederate Veteran
* Grand Army of the Republic
* Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S.
* Old soldiers' homes
* Southern Cross of Honor
* United Confederate Veterans

* Related topics

| Military|

* Arms
* Campaign Medal
* Cavalry
* Confederate Home Guard
* Confederate railroads
* Confederate revolving cannon
* Field artillery
* Medal of Honor recipients
* Medicine
* Naval battles
* Official Records
* Partisan rangers
* POW camps
* Rations
* Signal Corps
* Turning point
* Union corps badges
* U.S. Balloon Corps
* U.S. Home Guard
* U.S. Military Railroad

|

Political|

* Committee on the Conduct of the War
* Confederate States presidential election of 1861
* Confiscation Act of 1861
* Confiscation Act of 1862
* Copperheads
* Emancipation Proclamation
* Habeas Corpus Act of 1863
* Hampton Roads Conference
* National Union Party
* Politicians killed
* Radical Republicans
* Trent Affair
* Union Leagues
* U.S. Presidential Election of 1864
* War Democrats

Music|

* Battle Hymn of the Republic
* Dixie
* John Brown's Body
* A Lincoln Portrait
* Marching Through Georgia
* Maryland, My Maryland
* When Johnny Comes Marching Home
* Daar kom die Alibama

Other topics|

* Baltimore riot of 1861
* Battlefield preservation
* Bibliography
* Confederate war finance
* Confederate States dollar
* Espionage
* Confederate Secret Service
* Great Revival of 1863
* Juneteenth
* Naming the war
* Native Americans
* Catawba
* Cherokee
* Choctaw
* Seminole
* New York City Gold Hoax of 1864
* New York City riots of 1863
* Photographers
* Richmond riots of 1863
* Gender issues
* Supreme Court cases
* Tokens
* U.S. Sanitary Commission
* Women soldiers

* Category
* Portal

* v
* t
* e

African Americans

History|

* Timeline
* Abolitionism
* African American founding fathers
* Afrocentrism
* American Civil War
* Atlantic slave trade
* Black genocide
* Black Lives Matter
* Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
* Children of the plantation
* Civil Rights Acts
* 1964
* Voting Rights Act of 1965
* 1968
* Civil rights movement 1865–1896
* Civil right movement 1896–1954
* Civil rights movement 1954–1968
* Montgomery bus boycott
* Browder v. Gayle (1956)
* Sit-in movement
* Freedom Riders
* Birmingham movement
* March on Washington
* Selma to Montgomery marches
* Chicago Freedom Movement
* Post–civil rights era
* Cornerstone Speech
* COVID-19 impact
* Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
* Free Negro
* Free people of color
* George Floyd protests
* Great Migration
* Second
* New
* Inauguration of Barack Obama 2009 / Inauguration of Barack Obama 2013
* Jim Crow laws
* Lynching
* Military history
* Million Man March
* Nadir of American race relations
* The Negro Motorist Green Book
* Partus sequitur ventrem
* Plantations
* Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
* Reconstruction Amendments
* Reconstruction era
* Redlining
* Separate but equal
* Silent Parade
* Slavery
* Treatment of slaves
* Tulsa race massacre
* Underground Railroad
* Women's suffrage movement

Culture|

* Afrofuturism
* Art
* Black mecca
* Businesses
* Dance
* Family structure
* Film
* Folktales
* Hair
* Harlem Renaissance
* New Negro
* Hoodoo
* Juneteenth
* Kwanzaa
* LGBT community
* Literature
* Music
* Musical theater
* Names
* Negro National Anthem
* Neighborhoods
* Newspapers
* Soul food
* Stereotypes
* Middle class
* Upper class

Notable people|

* Ralph Abernathy
* Maya Angelou
* Crispus Attucks
* James Baldwin
* James Bevel
* Julian Bond
* Amelia Boynton
* James Bradley
* Carol Moseley Braun
* Edward Brooke
* Blanche Bruce
* Ralph Bunche
* George Washington Carver
* Shirley Chisholm
* Claudette Colvin
* Frederick Douglass
* W. E. B. Du Bois
* Medgar Evers
* James Farmer
* Henry Highland Garnet
* Marcus Garvey
* Fred Gray
* Fannie Lou Hamer
* Kamala Harris
* Jimi Hendrix
* Jesse Jackson
* Ketanji Brown Jackson
* Michael Jackson
* Harriet Jacobs
* Barbara Jordan
* Coretta Scott King
* Martin Luther King Jr.
* Bernard Lafayette
* James Lawson
* Huddie Ledbetter
* John Lewis
* Joseph Lowery
* Malcolm X
* Thurgood Marshall
* Toni Morrison
* Bob Moses
* Diane Nash
* Barack Obama
* Michelle Obama
* Rosa Parks
* Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
* Colin Powell
* Gabriel Prosser
* Joseph Rainey
* A. Philip Randolph
* Hiram Revels
* Paul Robeson
* Al Sharpton
* Fred Shuttlesworth
* Clarence Thomas
* Emmett Till
* Sojourner Truth
* Harriet Tubman
* Nat Turner
* Denmark Vesey
* C. T. Vivian
* David Walker
* Booker T. Washington
* Ida B. Wells
* Roy Wilkins
* Oprah Winfrey
* Andrew Young
* Whitney Young

Education, science
and technology|

* Black studies
* Black schools
* Historically black colleges and universities
* Inventors and scientists
* Museums
* Women
* in computer science
* in medicine
* in STEM fields

Religion|

* African-American Jews
* Islam
* American Society of Muslims
* Nation of Islam
* Black church
* Azusa Street Revival
* Black Hebrew Israelites
* Black theology
* Doctrine of Father Divine

Political movements|

* Anarchism
* Back-to-Africa movement
* Black power
* Movement
* Capitalism
* Conservatism
* Leftism
* Pan-Africanism
* Populism
* Raised fist
* Self-determination
* Nationalism
* Socialism

Civic and economic
groups

* Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
* Black Panther Party
* Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
* National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
* Nashville Student Movement
* National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC)
* National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
* National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)
* National Urban League (NUL)
* Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
* Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
* Thurgood Marshall College Fund
* United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
* Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL)

Sports|

* Negro league baseball
* Baseball color line
* Black players in professional American football
* Black NFL quarterbacks
* Black players in ice hockey
* Muhammad Ali
* Arthur Ashe
* Jack Johnson
* Joe Louis
* Jesse Owens
* Jackie Robinson
* Serena Williams

Athletic associations
and conferences

* Central (CIAA)
* Mid-Eastern (MEAC)
* Southern (SIAC)
* Southwestern (SWAC)

Ethnic subdivisions|

* By African descent
* Fula
* Gullah
* Igbo
* Yoruba
* Alabama Creole
* Black Indians
* Black Seminoles
* Cherokee freedmen controversy
* Choctaw freedmen
* Creek Freedmen
* Black Southerners
* Blaxicans
* Great Dismal Swamp maroons
* Louisiana Creole
* of color
* Melungeon

Demographics|

* Neighborhoods
* list
* U.S. cities with large populations
* 2000 majorities
* 2010 majorities
* Metropolitan areas
* States and territories

Languages|

* Afro-Seminole Creole
* American Sign
* Black American Sign
* English
* American English
* African-American English
* African-American Vernacular English
* Gullah
* Louisiana Creole

By state/city|

* Alabama
* Arkansas
* California
* Los Angeles
* San Francisco
* Cleveland
* Florida
* Jacksonville
* Tallahassee
* Georgia
* Atlanta
* Hawaii
* Illinois
* Chicago
* Iowa
* Davenport
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Lexington
* Louisiana
* Maryland
* Baltimore
* Massachusetts
* Boston
* Michigan
* Detroit
* Mississippi
* Nebraska
* Omaha
* New Jersey
* New York
* New York City
* North Carolina
* Oklahoma
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania
* Philadelphia
* Puerto Rico
* South Carolina
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Austin
* Dallas–Fort Worth
* Houston
* San Antonio
* Utah
* Virginia

Diaspora|

* Africa
* Gambia
* Ghana
* Liberia
* Sierra Leone
* America
* Canada
* Dominican Republic
* Haiti
* Mexico
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Israel
* Europe
* France

Lists|

* African Americans
* Activists
* Actors
* Astronauts
* Billionaires
* Jurists
* Mathematicians
* Republicans
* Singers
* Spingarn Medal winners
* US cabinet members
* US representatives
* US senators
* Visual artists
* Writers
* African-American firsts
* Mayors
* Sports firsts
* US state firsts
* Historic places
* Index of related articles
* Landmark African-American legislation
* Lynching victims
* Monuments
* Neighborhoods
* Topics related to the African diaspora

* Category
* United States portal

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST

National|

* Germany
* Israel
* United States

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*[Pub. L.]: Public Law (United States)